Refillable mugs going away again?

[SteveNZ]

I was just at Aulani for five days, checked out the day before yesterday. When we got there we wanted to buy refillable mugs. We went to Ulu Cafe and couldn’t see any on the shelves. Asked a CM and they said they had removed them from general sale as they were running low on syrup and guests would have to agree to limited availability of flavours before buying one. We agreed as we figured some soda was better than none.

We found the three machines at Ulu was out of most flavours. Luckily for us Dr Pepper was still available as that’s our favourite. The machines at Lava Shack and Ama Ama seemed to be well stocked.

Later on we heard from other guests that the mugs had been withdrawn completely and that the manager had said demand was outstripping supply and the entire program including the machines would likely be removed from Aulani.

Honestly, im not entirely sure what to make of this. Clearly post mix is not a scarce resource and they could get more if they wanted to. If the problem is people bringing old mugs (or any old mug) then do what WDW does and use the mugs with chips.

If it’s just that demand per customer at Aulani makes it unprofitable then I don’t know what to suggest. I would seriously think twice about staying at Aulani in the future if I had to pay for each individual drink, especially at Disney prices. I can understand that the demand per guest at Aulani is likely much higher than at WDW where guests are usually off-site for most of the day, but there must be a way to make refillable sodas viable. There has to be.

 

[Kwami]

Fountain soda is practically free to Disney, so they're almost certainly not running negative from refillable mugs. However, they might have decided that they can increase profits by not selling refillable mugs. With Chapek in charge, well, you know.

 

[Lilsia]

Fountain soda is practically free to Disney, so they're almost certainly not running negative from refillable mugs. However, they might have decided that they can increase profits by not selling refillable mugs. With Chapek in charge, well, you know.

I don't think that it is "practically free" for them in Hawaii. The shipping alone is a pretty penny. This is not WDW.

 

[monsterkitty]

Coke does have a bottling plant on Oahu so while still more expensive than the mainland, it shouldn't increase the cost that much at Aulani.

 

[Kwami]

I don't think that it is "practically free" for them in Hawaii. The shipping alone is a pretty penny. This is not WDW.

It's pretty much free compared to just about anything else and it certainly costs them much, much less than whatever they're charging us for it, even accounting for machine maintenance and labor. Aulani isn't special ordering the syrup from mainland USA or something. They're getting the same stuff that every other restaurant and movie theater in Hawaii gets.

 

[Lilsia]

It's pretty much free compared to just about anything else and it certainly costs them much, much less than whatever they're charging us for it, even accounting for machine maintenance and labor. Aulani isn't special ordering the syrup from mainland USA or something. They're getting the same stuff that every other restaurant and movie theater in Hawaii gets.

Well there is obviously an issue with supply otherwise the machines would be stocked. And not every company uses the Freestyle machines, which YES, do cost more then the bag in the box. The bag in the box is "practically free", not so much the Freestyle machines. The cafe that I used to work at looked into switching and they figured out that it would triple their costs and so not worth it. The bag in a box is by far the most popular way for companies to get their soda and that is completely different then the cartridges that go into the Freestyle machines. I am sure that there are some places that do use the Freestyle machines on the Island, but the majority of what we saw where the bag in the box style. They never should have switched to the Freestyle machines.

 

[Jocelynaus]

Hopefully it is just a supply chain interruption.

The Freestyle machines at Aulani were my sons favourite part of our Aulani/WDW trip, they are much better than WDW’s (when we went)

It would be really sad if they were removed. They wouldn’t even need the chip, just update the design and enforce that, or increase the cup cost.

 

[scoobdoo]

Chapek’s greed

 

[Curiousporpoise]

We were there beginning of October and we purchased and used the mugs all week. There were tons of drinks that were missing by Ulu Cafe, and the Lava shack machine was out of ice. I think there is another machine that’s kind of hidden, but I was too lazy to ask or look for it. The mugs were $23 and small, so I’m sure they were making some money off it! We used to have fountain sofas and I believe we paid $.05 an ounce. Our rep told us McDonald’s barely paid even less, and I bet Disney pays about the same.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Chapek’s greed

Lol people really think they're getting one over on Disney when they buy these mugs. Same with the dining plan.

"Disney is greedy because mugs might go away and they haven't brought the dining plan back!"

Uh, no. Disney is greedy by offering the mugs and the dining plan in the first place. They make money on these things. More money than they would make without them. If they're not going to offer them for some reason, it's not to increase profitability.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Fountain soda is practically free to Disney, so they're almost certainly not running negative from refillable mugs. However, they might have decided that they can increase profits by not selling refillable mugs. With Chapek in charge, well, you know.

Guest behavior isn't static, it's dynamic. People look at these things and figure "someone who refills their mug ten times will buy 10 bottles of Coke if the mugs go away," but that's not how people actually behave. If the mugs went away, the refills-10-times guy will just drink less soda.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Guest behavior isn't static, it's dynamic. People look at these things and figure "someone who refills their mug ten times will buy 10 bottles of Coke if the mugs go away," but that's not how people actually behave. If the mugs went away, the refills-10-times guy will just drink less soda.

Agreed. But a lot of DVC members cheat the system by using the mugs repeatedly on multiple trips, which they justify by saying other people do it as well. Everyone has a different opinion on this, but personally I think it’s dishonest. Not sure how significant a financial hit this represents, but I bet Disney notices this kind of stuff, and maybe that’s a factor as well.

 

[Kwami]

Guest behavior isn't static, it's dynamic. People look at these things and figure "someone who refills their mug ten times will buy 10 bottles of Coke if the mugs go away," but that's not how people actually behave. If the mugs went away, the refills-10-times guy will just drink less soda.

I never claimed otherwise. That doesn't mean the removing the mugs won't increase profits, though. Neither of us has the numbers. But, it'd be strange to remove something that guests enjoy if you were also going to lose money by doing so.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I never claimed otherwise. That doesn't mean the removing the mugs won't increase profits, though. Neither of us has the numbers. But, it'd be strange to remove something that guests enjoy if you were also going to lose money by doing so.

Or the supply chain challenges are real and legitimate.

 

[Jwaire]

Agreed. But a lot of DVC members cheat the system by using the mugs repeatedly on multiple trips, which they justify by saying other people do it as well. Everyone has a different opinion on this, but personally I think it’s dishonest. Not sure how significant a financial hit this represents, but I bet Disney notices this kind of stuff, and maybe that’s a factor as well.

Every WDW resort I've stayed at lately has had RFID mugs and cups that prevent you from doing that.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Every WDW resort I've stayed at lately has had RFID mugs and cups that prevent you from doing that.

Aulani doesn't, and this is an Aulani thread.

 

[Paul Stupin]

Every WDW resort I've stayed at lately has had RFID mugs and cups that prevent you from doing that.

Not Aulani! That might be the problem.

 

[Kmk2]

Why don’t they just get the RFID machines/mugs this has been years. Aulani is so random at this point

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why don’t they just get the RFID machines/mugs this has been years. Aulani is so random at this point

They don't work with the Freestyle machines, which are better.

Honest to God, Disney fans are something else. You get an upgraded product and you complain that you don't get the worse version.

 

[Kmk2]

They don't work with the Freestyle machines, which are better.

Honest to God, Disney fans are something else. You get an upgraded product and you complain that you don't get the worse version.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...oca-cola-freestyle-machines-available-508910/

So they don’t work with the Freestyle machines?